


3KK: El Año Viejo (The Old Year)

by crumbcake



Series: Three Kids Klance [14]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Family, Family Fluff, Melancholy, New Year's Fluff, New Years, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Original Character(s), Other, Slice of Life, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:48:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22136581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crumbcake/pseuds/crumbcake
Summary: It’s another end of year for Keith and family - time to celebrate! And time to reflect on both the good and the bad.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Three Kids Klance [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/843675
Comments: 25
Kudos: 110





	3KK: El Año Viejo (The Old Year)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so late this year :(( but!! better late than never! I wanted to post another big thank you fic for my lovely readers, old and new that have stuck around to read my stories. I hope it's a good story to chew on for a little while. :D Thanks to Madoshi for beta-ing this giant one-shot!! Any errors left are all mine of course!
> 
> Note that in this one I jump a few years ahead - ages for Keith/Lance/Clara/Shiro/Saul are 44, 43, 26, 17, and 12 respectively.
> 
> Warnings: One explicit but rather mild not-all-the-way-sex scene and overall a bit of sadness mixed in with the cheer. :)

His kids were mostly grown — Clara was space-bound for months at a time on intergalactic contracts, so she couldn’t visit too often, Shiro was stressing himself out reviewing his college options (to pursue an education on interplanetary social policy of all things. Keith didn’t get it), and his youngest was twelve, but much older mentally, well adjusted and capable of taking care of himself. They would all be just fine, if Keith up and vanished. 

All he had to do was roll out of bed and keep rolling, until he reached his jet car, then set a course for ‘the fuck out of here’ and escape the insult that was being surrounded by family while sick and being unable to speak during the holidays in Cuba. It was the worst. Apart from Clara, everyone kept busting into his room at all hours, talking  _ at _ him. 

His silence wasn’t voluntary; he had a bad case of Galra Silence which robbed him of his voice.

And his dignity. The disease was common enough for Galra children, but he got it as a full-grown adult (though, at forty-four, he was barely a grownup by Galra standards). Silence infection made his insides so hot, that he had smoke coming out of his mouth during coughing fits, which hit him violently enough, and every time his skin would flush purple and scare Lance. His vocal cords were so swollen that he couldn’t get any words out at all and his bones hurt. All of them.

Keith huffed and sunk further into the blankets. He suspected he caught the disease from one of Lotor’s twins during their visit last summer where they were their usual haughty-yet-touchy-feely selves. The girl, Honerva, renamed ‘Honey’ by Keith’s ‘hilarious’ family, was under the weather by the time they were heading home. Galra diseases tended to take months to manifest, so the timing fit. And now Keith was stuck in bed — silent, steamy, and purple-ish. 

Bed-ridden and weird for the holidays wasn’t his favorite state of being.

But it was not worth the time and effort to get Galra medicine, as his immune system would eventually sort things out anyway. He would be fine, if he had plenty of bed rest, fluids, and ten times the usual dosage of human common cold meds for comfort. Unfortunately, human meds never reached his bloodstream via digestion, which meant that for the most part he was stuck with suppositories as he had been when pregnant. 

Which was why his bondmate was out past midnight on Christmas Eve in search for the late night pharmacy that might have suppository versions of regular cold medicines in stock. Keith tried to stop him, but Lance paled at his last coughing fit and refused to be talked out of getting meds. He nearly suffocated Keith with a too hot blanket and left without another word. 

Fantastic. 

Keith loved it when Lance insisted on a future where butt pills would be shoved up Keith’s ass. It was fortunate that childbirth, though long ago, had taken care of anything remotely resembling body shame and embarrassment. Still. Fuck Lance.

Keith bit back a hiss of pain as he hauled all the sheets off himself and the bed. He was about to flip off the bedside light, when he heard a creak and looked up in time to see his bedroom door creep open. He hoped it was Lance, because if Shiro came back again to panic about what his first semester would look like were he to attend so and so college, Keith was going to do him a favor and knock him out so they can both sleep through the night.

“Mama?”

Feminine voice, but not Clara, unfortunately. Keith’s eyes narrowed, as he waved a fresh batch of steam escaping him out of the way. His daughter was home for Christmas and she brought along her… well, that omega Rosa girlfriend bondmate-to-be chick or whatever. Clara must have time-traveled to find her, because this girl was straight out of some aristocratic Victorian age, what with her mannerisms and skewed point of view. 

Except maybe her manners were missing something, because she hadn’t even knocked. There she was with her big brown eyes, brown curls and suspicious innocence, sticking her big melon head through the door opening, peering down at Keith, as if concerned he would die before she could share her important opinion on something or the other, and who cares, certainly not Keith. 

Keith tensed, as her greeting sunk in... Why did she  _ insist _ on calling Keith—

“[I hope I’m not disturbing you.]” Her exaggerated pout remained frozen in place, as her eyes traveled down Keith’s threadbare tanktop and purpling scarred skin then back up, “[I brought you soup,]” was all she said after eyeing his skin tone. Some things were left unspoken.

_ I don’t want your fucking soup, I want my daughter, go away _ , Keith’s eyes said.

Instead, the young lady smoothed down her respectable ankle-length robe and slipped inside the bedroom, settling herself by Keith’s bedside, holding an enormous bowl of soup. Well, shit. None of Clara’s prior partners had made themselves at home on his bed before. This wasn’t normal, was it? Maybe he could take advantage of his molten core insides and learn to breathe fire and singe that girl’s hair off, so she’d learn a lesson on boundaries. 

“[I made you chicken soup.]” Even her pitch grated at his nerves. He smiled, determined to tolerate. No matter.

The last thing he wanted was hot soup to add to the burning inferno inside him. On the other hand, if Clara got wind of him spurning girlfriend soup, then she would probably bond with Rosa tomorrow and have a bunch of kids just to spite him. His daughter had been in a bad mood with Keith for a while. 

He was never shy on sharing with his daughter what he thought of Rosa whenever he had a chance. Rosa was shallow. Small-minded. He told Clara that Rosa was the perfect omega, if a perfect omega meant fitting the stereotypes of the quintessential omega as imagined by old-fashioned alphas, who didn’t want to know any better.

Rosa’s only interest was in showing off just how perfect of an omega she was. From what Keith could gather, she lived for such things. Although, mostly she made clear that she liked Clara’s looks, and spent most of her time yapping about material things and little else. She had nothing interesting to say beyond chiding un-omega like behavior she witnessed from Clara’s brothers. 

Rosa insisted on cooking meals and cleaning up after the household when she visited, which was fine with Keith. She always called Clara ‘my love’ or ‘dearest’ and would spend most of her time pointing out expensive, useless things that she wanted Clara to purchase. Basically, she was everything Keith wasn’t in all the wrong ways, which made her impossible to get along with. However, relaying this to his daughter got him… cut out. 

If he contacted Clara as of late, she would talk to him, but it wasn’t the same. There was this distance, like his daughter was keeping him at arm’s length. She hadn’t voluntarily communicated with him for weeks, and he mostly knew how things were with her through Lance. The situation was a new one for Keith. His feelings over Rosa was not worth losing his relationship with his daughter. He was just glad that Clara agreed to come back home for christmas, despite their cold war. 

Instead of snatching the soup and abandoning it on the nightstand the way he wanted to, Keith accepted the dish, grasping it slow and gentle. Gentle-like, because he was a gentleman. He wasn’t going to give Clara any fodder for exacting further revenge on him. He would make nice, even if it killed him. Clara swore that Rosa’s the one for her, so Keith was going to keep his mouth shut from now on and let her lead her life. Clara was grown. That’s what Lance kept telling him.

Raising the bowl to his lips, Keith efficiently slurped and chewed. He guzzled down broth, as if drinking it would give him girlfriend banishing powers. Too bad everything tasted like ashes, Rosa was an excellent cook despite her other quirks, or maybe because of them. Although, who knows, maybe the soup actually contained ash. Maybe Clara’s girlfriend could sense his dislike and came here to poison him.

Survive galactic war and die from soup. That would be funny, Keith thought, as he drained the bowl dry.

An audible burble, as if water had been set to a furious boil, began in the pit of his stomach. He ignored Rosa’s raised eyebrows and paling face, as he handed back the bowl and the spoon he hadn’t bothered with.

_ Thanks _ , he mouthed, briefly considering attempting a smile. Never mind. His face had never cooperated with pretense or niceties and it wasn’t going to start now. 

“[Mami, is that coming from you? Are you alright?]”

How does one not express annoyance when annoyed? Could she  _ stop _ calling him ‘mami’?

Keith shrugged as he stifled a chest-full of smoke. Some of it escaped through his nose. 

Her eyes lingered on the vanishing wisps, as she asked in a hushed tone, [“Can you really not talk?”]

He stared at her. Stared even harder when she took his hand in her own.

[“I heard papi step out. I was hoping I could sneak some time with you and get to know you better. Just the two of us, omega to omega.”]

Really. At one in the morning while Keith was sick in bed and temporarily mute?

“[Clara promises me all the time that you and papi are really her birth parents. How are you so young and beautiful?]” She laughed, wagging her finger while blissfully unaware, that Keith hated such inane compliments. “[I talk to my parents a lot about you. They are very impressed by how you made such big lives for yourselves.]” She leaned in as Keith puzzled through that, “[You were pregnant as a teenager and you didn’t let that stop you from joining the Garrison. You pushed so hard, that you became highly paid galactic military heroes and proved everyone wrong! Look at you now! Look at your  _ house _ !]”

Obviously, Lance had overdone it with the house. It was too fancy and gave the impression that they had spent a fortune, when in reality his sister designed the remodeling for free and Lance did a lot of the work himself for fun. They could downgrade to a shack for all Keith cared and sell Lance’s jetcar for a scooter. Then people would be less interested in them, just the way Keith liked it. 

Rosa leaned in even closer, the perfect ringlets of her hair slipping over her shoulders. “[Mami, my family may not be wealthy now, but we carry name recognition. I know everything there is to know about being a good omega and I know I can take very good care of Clara. I could teach Shiro and Saul a thing or two, too, about our dynamic, if you would like. I’ll be really good.]”

Keith wondered when Rosa would shut the hell up and give him his hand back.

“[I can point out what kind of clothes are the most flattering for Clara’s baby brothers.]” She continued, eyes briefly going back down to Keith’s tanktop, as if he wouldn’t catch that.

Point taken. Keith would make sure to wear a tasteful tuxedo top the next time he rode Lance’s dick. Which he couldn’t even do now. His first Silence symptom was the internal heat, and Lance virtually screeched (“FIRE,” he had yelped) the last time he tried to penetrate Keith.

“[I’ll make sure to always dress to impress, so Clara is never embarrassed to have me by her side. I’ll treat her like royalty.]” 

Wow, she just wouldn’t stop talking, despite Keith’s zero encouragement. She must’ve been holding back for a while. Keith could commiserate.

“[A proper diet is important too. I’ll be sure to keep food coming. My good food will make a big difference in this household. I bet it will keep you from producing so much vapor!]”

In other words, she could cure him of being an alien and having alien symptoms, if he would only stop eating the trash Lance kept feeding him. Keith carefully extricated his hand from her grip and reached for the tablet he left on the nightstand. He typed a quick response and flipped the tablet over for her to read.

_ ‘[Can you make eggplant stew?]’ _ If he was going to have to keep dealing with her, then he might as well get his favorite dishes out of it.

She grinned. “[I make the  _ best _ stew.]”

He typed.  _ ‘[Great. Stew would make me feel better, but I know you won’t have time to cook tomorrow...]’ _

“[I’ll get started right away!]”

Keith borrowed another tactic from Lance’s social playbook and typed,  _ ‘[I wouldn’t want to trouble you.]’ _

“[It’s no trouble for family.]”

Ugh. It was hard not to roll his eyes. Hopefully, Clara would take Rosa along next time she was off-planet. He wasn’t sure how much of their alien heritage Clara has divulged to Rosa, but the girl wasn’t blind.

Her smile broadened. “[Mami, if you had a nice set of Red Orb cookware to work with—the Martian carbon-forged set—I could make you the best stew. All the stew you would like.]”

Okay, whatever.

She let her words linger as she kept smiling at him.

….Yes? He stared at her and tried not to snarl.

“[I’ll send you a link. Cookware upgrade could make all the difference in this house. I know if I had a set, I could keep Clara well fed and happy.]” 

She scooted so close that their shoulders bumped, as she poked at his tablet while it was in his grasp. Seconds later, he was staring at the stock image of a cookware set that cost the same as three months of Lance’s salary combined. That’s insanity. Keith tried to keep his temper in check. Was she going to go make stew or not?

“Mami…” She said, “[Clara would-]”

“Mami!” Shiro burst into the room, much to Keith’s relief. His son picked the blanket up from the floor as he stormed forward and hurled himself onto the bed between Keith and Rosa. He threw a searching hand out until he found a free pillow and shoved it over his head along with the blanket. It did a poor job in stifling the loud prolonged groan that came next. 

“What if I messed up so bad that I don’t qualify for any of my college choices?” He asked, then burrowed his face into the pillow, before muttering quietly, “Hi, Rosa. Where’s papi?”

He shot up, just as Rosa opened her mouth. “I can’t fly stuff!” he yelled, “What am I supposed to do?! I don’t have a plan B! I should have had a plan B. I never have a plan B!”

He then dropped on top of Keith and curled into him, his body heat adding to Keith’s internal slow roast feeling. Why was Keith’s bed so damn crowded?

Keith jabbed his son’s shoulder. 

“I knooow.” Shiro moaned. “I wasn’t thinking.”

He jabbed his son’s shoulder again.

“WHY does it take so long to send us our grade rankings?” Shiro was back up. He yanked the blanket from under himself as he continued, “I should have gone into theater. I wouldn’t have had to worry so much about grade ranking.”

That nightmare blanket was thrown over Keith’s shoulders.

“How come Rosa gets to share the bed with you?” Shiro asked as he worked diligently to keep Keith bundled up. “Camilo never got to share the bed with you. Neither did Octavio, or Rene, or Anna Maria. Not even once. Is it because they were betas? Except, Camilo’s an alpha. Where’s papi?”

Every time Keith pushed the blanket away, Shiro gathered it up in his hands and covered him up again. Keith grabbed his tablet and typed furiously, ‘ _ It’s hot. I don’t want the blanket. Stop it! _ ’

“You’re sick.” Shiro chided, as if Keith didn’t know that. “Where’s papi?” He draped the blanket over Keith’s shoulders.

Keith underlined ‘It’s hot’ twice and shoved the tablet under his son’s nose, who simply cocked his head to look past it. He kept staring, until Keith rolled his eyes and added, ‘ _ Lance is out getting me meds.’  _ He glanced back at Rosa, who for some reason or another remained where she was, right at the very edge of the mattress.

Shiro nodded. “Think about it mami. Limiting your bedside to Clara’s omega partners-”

“I’m betrothed to Clara, there is no one else.” Rosa rarely spoke English, but jumped in and clarified the situation immediately. Keith finally gave in and rolled his eyes.

Shiro smiled at her in a very Lance-like matter. “Of course! You’re amazing. I love you.” He reassured.

Her eyes narrowed, clearly unsure of his sincerity. Keith’s son appeared quite comfortable with her discomfort. He kept his eyes trained on her and his expression cheery as he lectured, “Mami, allowing your alpha daughter’s omega to sit with you in bed, but not your omega son’s beta or alpha partners, reinforces the stereotyped roles of greater human society. If it’s okay to share the bed with Rosa, then it’s only fair to extend the same hospitality to any of my betas or alphas.”

Rosa’s mouth dropped. “You would have your mother lay in bed with your beta and alpha partners?”

“Of course!”

“Don’t you realize how improper and potentially dangerous that could be for mami?”

“That’s a dumb sentiment! Why would mami be in anymore danger with a beta or an alpha at his bedside, then he would be with an omega?”

“Now, Shiro, be reasonable!” She chided, “You don’t have to hate ‘stereotyped’ roles just because they exist. There is a  _ reason _ they exist.”

“Yes, there is an awful reason. People like to generalize to make life easy for themselves and to justify dumb superiority complexes. In doing so, they punish or take away the inalienable rights of anyone that dares to be different. Stereotypes only add burden and limitations to those that are stereotyped.”

“How old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

“Oh, you must really know the way of the world now,” she said dryly.

“Rosa, I’m young, not stupid.”

“Are you sure? Because a smart omega, that loves his omega mom, would never put his mom in danger with some alpha or beta, who is probably bigger and stronger and can easily hurt mami just to prove some meaningless point.

“Mami can take care of himself, and I wouldn’t date a crazy person.” He hesitated, then raised his chin up and said, “I’m not stupid.”

At last, he looked back at Keith, his eyes wide, as if worried. Keith already had a new message typed out and ready.

_ ‘She invited herself. How many people are you dating?!’  _ He then shook his head and smiled a bit as he added to his projected text, _ ‘You’re smarter than any of us, Shiro.’ _

“Mami, he has no common sense,” Rosa said, as if saying that her potential brother-in-law had no sense to his own mother made perfect sense.

“I have enough common sense to never call my partner’s parents ‘mami’ or ‘papi’ just because we’re dating.”

“I am betrothed to Clara.” She reminded, nearly hissing like a snake. “We will bond this coming spring. You will have to get used to sharing mami and papi, because I am now part of this family.”

Shiro grinned just like Lance again. “Okay. Sounds great.” Then his face dropped, and he turned to look at Keith. He sniffled. “Mami… I’m sorry I’m ruining Christmas. I’m scared I won’t make it to college. I worked really hard.”

‘ _ You will make it to college, Shiro. Plus, Clara didn’t go to college.’ _

“She can build stuff. I can’t build anything.” Shiro sighed. “I don’t do physical stuff right. My friends Shiro-proof their houses whenever I come over, and give out terms and conditions to people I date. Camilo holds my hand to keep me out of trouble, cause he thinks I’m five years old, because sadly I look like a five year old. I’m smaller and prettier than Saul. I have to explain that Camilo’s my ex-boyfriend bodyguard best friend to everyone I date.”

Keith couldn’t help grinning at his diatribe. He swept his hand through Shiro’s bangs.

“All I do is talk a lot.” Shiro mourned.

Keith underlined some of his previous text.  _ ‘How many people are you dating?’ _

“I date one at a time usually.” Shiro shrugged. “I like Lisa, but I think she wants a feminine omega, and I’m not a feminine omega. She keeps showing me stupid skirts. She’s funny, though.” 

He grabbed Keith’s tablet and made a quick social databank search, “I’ve got my eyes fixed on Isabel. She’s an alpha.” He groaned. “Ugh, knots-”

Keith raised an eyebrow, he was glad Lance wasn’t there for that little gem.

“-but she’s really cool. I think it’s over between me and Lisa. I’m not changing for her.” He hesitated and said quietly to himself, “I don’t need to change for anyone.” 

“Sometimes change is good.” Said Rosa, making Shiro jump. 

He swung back around to look at her, “If I were you, I would leave. Why would you invite yourself to mami’s bed?! It’s like two in the morning. Mami doesn’t want you here, and he’s sick! You should go back to Clara and ‘make love to her’”, he air quoted, “for a fancy Christmas hovercar or whatever you got your eyes on at this point.”

Just maybe all of Keith’s kids had a bit of a hot temper. Maybe it was simply a Galra thing. Maybe not.

Keith kept his face carefully blank, as Rosa sputtered and looked at him. Please, don’t let her blame him when she talks to Clara. That was all Shiro. He agreed with all of it, but still, it came from Shiro, not him.

She stood up. “[I actually love your sister very much, Shiro!]”

“[That’s weird. Why?]” He said immediately. Keith shook his head and smacked Shiro’s arm.

“[I brought mami chicken soup-]” She teared up as she spoke.

“It’s  _ Mister Alvarez _ to you!”

“[Which he had all of it!]” She insisted, “[I was trying to bond with my soon to be bondmate’s mom. Why is it even a problem — seconds ago you wanted  _ mami _ to get in bed with your alphas and betas-]”

“[that’s before I knew that you had invited yourself. That changes everything. Thanks for giving mami chicken soup.]” He said with finality.

Rosa took a deep shaky breath and swung around, leaving without another word.

Shiro huffed then eyed Keith, smoothing out the crinkles in his tanktop and resting his head on Keith’s shoulder. “Feliz Navidad, mami. Sorry about that,” he paused, “Hugging you right now is like hugging the sun.” 

Keith chuckled and tucked Shiro’s head under his chin. He typed, as Shiro watched,  _ By the way, you don’t look a day younger than six.’ _

Shiro laughed, “Mami…”

Keith wished he had his sense of smell back. His son’s beloved scent was gonna go away when he shipped off to college.

Soon enough, Keith’s door swung open again. 

Clara marched right in and slapped Shiro hard upside the head.

“OW! What the hell, Clara!! That’s abuse!”

“Know what else is abuse?! Your mouth!” She dropped down on the other side of Keith and crossed her arms. Clara had let her hair grow long again; it was a wild mess, mussed up from sleep, the dark strands contrasting against the white silky pajamas she wore, that was probably a gift from Rosa. Keith smiled, happy to see her.

“HA!” scoffed Shiro, “Whatever!! Your mouth is so bad, it has a  _ galactic _ reputation. You are infamous across the whole universe!! Probably alternate universes too! There’s no sentient being too good for you to yell at. You’re fueled by insults and rage! I bet you’ve cussed out your entire clientele — it’s a good thing you’re actually good at-

“God, shut up!”

“You shut up!”

Keith wrote,  _ ‘Could you two give it a rest for the holidays?’ _

“I can’t shut up because I haven’t been talking! All that noise was coming from that big pie-hole of yours!” Clara retorted, ignoring Keith entirely.

Shiro jumped up, “It’s not just a pie-hole,” he needled, “I SUCK PENIS WITH IT TOO.”

Clara’s eyes got so round, they could’ve popped right out of her head. Keith was very, very glad Lance wasn’t around yet. What was taking so long? Also, his kids were embarrassing and shameless. How exactly did Shiro manage to be as coarse as his parents and older sister without ever uttering a curse word? He could add that to his list of talents. 

Right under penis sucking. 

Keith supposed he reaped what he sowed. Crude mom meant crude kids. He let out another wisp of smoke and slouched further back on the bed, contemplating his failure as a parent.

“SHIRO,” started Clara, “You shouldn’t be-”

“Lalala! Can’t hear you, sucking so many penises!!”

“You’re gonna get space herpes.”   
  
“Herpes was eradicated at least a century ago, and even if it wasn’t — which it was — my herpes would be earth-acquired.”

“You’re a tiny, mouthy dumbass.”

“I’m not dumb.”

“Emphasis on the ass, dumbass. Why’d you say those things to Rosa?!”

“All I said was the truth.”

“Rosa loves me.”

“Do  _ you _ love her?” retorted Shiro.

Clara stiffened, and her eyes hardened, as she said, “Yes. I’ve said this a thousand times. Why would I want to bond with her, if I didn’t love her?”

“I don’t trust her, Clara. Why is she always asking for stuff?”

Clara rolled her eyes.“You don’t have to trust her.  _ I’m _ bonding with her, not you, kid.”

Shiro’s eyes narrowed, “I’m seventeen.”

“So what?” Clara turned her attention to Keith, frowning, “And  _ you _ .”

Keith’s eyebrows went up. This time he hadn’t done anything at all.

“Rosa’s trying really hard to get along with you.”

Keith simply stared.

“Mami, don’t give me that. You’ve been telling me for months that you don’t like her.”

Keith frowned, and Clara frowned back.

“Not everyone can or should be like you and papi.”

“You mean, happy and in love?” asked Shiro as he hauled the blanket back up Keith’s shoulders.

“I AM happy, Shiro.” Growled Clara.

“And in love?”

“What the hell do you know about love?!”

“More than you, obviously! If you think Rosa-”

“Why are you being such a jerk?! You need to apologize-”

“What?!” Shiro squawked, “I’ve got nothing to apologize for! She should apologize! What’s she doing, bugging mami at two in the morning!”

Clara leaned in close to Shiro and yelled, “She got him  _ soup _ !”

Shiro bumped heads with his sister as he yelled back, “Mami’s got Silence! Soup is the last thing he needs!!!”

The door swung open yet again. Saul walked in and assessed the situation blearily, his eyes landing on his siblings and then lingering on Keith. 

“Why are you on mami’s bed, screaming at each other, in the middle of the night? On Christmas? While mami’s sick?”

Keith watched his older kids hunch in on themselves and look back at him.

“Clara started it.” Said Shiro, sheepishly.

Saul frowned at his brother, “Where’s papi?”

“Getting meds for mami.” 

Keith watched his youngest make his way to his bed as well. He leaned past Shiro and tucked the blanket even tighter around Keith, much to his dismay, then walked out of the room. He came back a minute later, frozen gel packs in hand.

“Papi said, you’re supposed to stay wrapped up-” Said Saul. He climbed right over his brother and sat snug by Keith’s side. He was a whole head taller than Shiro. They looked much closer in age then they should have. Saul smiled as he placed the gel back over the back of Keith’s neck. It sizzled slightly. “But something cold on your neck and wrists wouldn’t hurt.”

It felt so damn good. Keith sighed and closed his eyes, sagging into the blankets, as he let his kids wrap gel packs around his wrists. Finally, some relief. He kind of floated in the moment and barely noticed, that three heads ended up leaning against him in some fashion.

“You know, mami could be contagious.” Said Shiro softly.

“It’s too late.” Clara snorted.

“Definitely too late.” Agreed Saul.

Keith was dozing off in the ensuing quiet, when Clara began softly, “Shiro... I don’t want you getting hurt. There’s a bunch of asshole betas and alphas out there, ready to take advantage of you.”

“I was thinking the same exact thing about you. Except replace betas and alphas with omegas. One omega, to be exact.”

Clara snorted, “I can take care of myself. And it’s not the same thing.”

“It’s so the same thing. How could you be so biased?”

“Shiro, you got to face up to reality. You can’t equate my thing to your thing. Compared to the other dynamics, pheromones alone-”

“I’ve been dealing with pheromones all my life, Clara.” Said Shiro in a hushed tone, “I know all about that. Maybe it’s you that needs to face up to reality.”

Keith sought out his son’s hand and reached for Clara’s with his other hand. He was too tired to keep his eyes open anymore, but he listened attentively, feeling a deep pang for his son and completely understanding, where Clara was coming from. His older kids both entwined their fingers with his and held on. He felt Saul shift and let out a quiet sigh.

“Just cause I look like I’m five-”

“You look like you’re four.”

“He looks like he’s three. He looks like my baby brother. Camilo uses a toddler leash on him, so he won’t get lost,” said Saul, his voice never wavering from calm and at ease.

“Ugh, shut up, Saul.” Said Shiro in disgust, as Keith smiled. Shiro was constantly teased by family for his small stature, now that he’d taken that mantle from Keith. Apart from that, it took an entire Cuban village to keep Shiro from accidentally maiming himself.

“Camilo turned out alright.” Said Clara, sounding surprised.

“ _ Anyway _ . I was trying to say, that I got my head on straight. There’s good people and bad people across all dynamics. And I don’t trust Rosa, like at all. She’s just using you!”

Clara hesitated, taking a deep breath. “You don’t know anything about her.”

Keith felt his older son nudge his brother, “Saul, what do you think?”

“Of Rosa?”

“Yeah.”

“If she’s listening behind the door, then I would say she’s great.”

“And if she isn’t listening?” asked Shiro.

“Then I would say she’s a crazy person.” Saul said in the same joyful tone.

“Yeah, yeah, you two always take each other’s side.”

“That’s cause you’re also a crazy person.” Said Saul. “Maybe you crazies go together.”

“Har har. We’re not crazy.”

“Sane adjacent?” asked Saul.

“Watch yourself, twerp.” Keith smiled, he could hear the humor in Clara’s voice. She then sobered as she said, “None of you are giving her a chance. That’s not right.”

“Mami’s been giving her a bunch of chances. He hasn’t blown her off even once this Christmas. He hasn’t even glared at her, and Papi is always nice to her, even when she’s asking you for stuff,” reasoned Saul.

“Look, she’s had it rough, she looks out for number one, but she loves me.”

“Do you love her back?”

“Ugh, not you too! Listen, this dynamic duo thing has got to stop, what are you gonna do when Shiro ships off to college?”

“I’ll call him a lot and get used to not seeing him, the way I did when you left us behind.”

“Saul!”

“Shh, quietly. Mami’s sick, remember?”

“Saul, leaving is part of growing up. I couldn’t stay at home forever. I always call you back!”

“You don’t always, but that’s okay.” Saul always easily forgave any infraction. 

“I will call you every hour on the hour.” Swore Shiro.

“Oh, that would be terrible,” said Saul kindly.

“It’s possible, some messages don’t make it when I’m in deep space, but if it reaches me, I  _ always _ call you back,” Clara insisted, “You’re all very important to me.”

That piqued Keith’s interest, enough for him to try to push through his Silence. All he managed was a wordless mouthing of the words, ‘ _ You’d call me back? _ ’

“Mami…” She sounded guilt-ridden. “You don’t make things easy.”

“You mean, you haven’t talked to mami over Rosa?” asked Shiro, in a highly judgemental tone,    
“How long has this been happening?” He helped Keith sit back up.

“It doesn’t matter, because she’s here now for Christmas,” said Saul. “She wants Christmas to be good for mami,” he beamed, watching Clara blush.

Oh, Keith hadn’t thought of that possibility. He just thought it was a habit for her to come home for the holidays. He felt lighter all of a sudden.

“Why are you so fixated on Rosa?!” Said Shiro, “Just dump her and find somebody better!”

“...that’s kind of your motto, isn’t it.” Clara looked like she didn’t want to be amused, but was amused nonetheless. “You’re a tiny little heartbreaker.”

“It’s nothing personal. You go on a date, and if you like each other, you keep dating. If it doesn’t work out, then thanks for the fun times.” He shrugged. 

Clara raised an eyebrow, “I stand corrected, you’re the jaded one.”

“Besides, who said I was going to make it into college!” He yelled, apropos to nothing. “I’m gonna be mami and papi’s homeless son who lives in the attic eating churros!”

“Just leave Earth, weirdo, there’s all kinds of higher education in the galaxy where you won’t need grades. You could live with Uncle Lotor.”

“I can’t do that. Humans have barely left the solar system, and I have very intense and specific dynamic related needs,” said Shiro which prompted a fit of giggles from Saul.

Clara’s eyes narrowed. She was never happy when her little brother reminded her that he was a sexual being. Shiro was only too happy to rub it in. At least, he spared Lance from the worst of it. Lance’s scent always gave away how touchy he still was on anything related to heats and Shiro. Keith had accepted, that Shiro was growing up, and was just happy that he would confide in him on such things when he couldn’t with Lance. 

“You realize you’re talking to your mom, your impressionable little brother, and your older alpha sister.” 

Keith thought it was a good time to casually peel off the blanket, since he was essentially being ignored, but all three of his kids began to rebundle him without even looking. They fanned away his Silence smoke as they continued their conversation unperturbed.

“Saul,” Shiro started, “don’t feel pressured to have sex, but if you want it, get the STD vaccinations — they offer the hyposprays at school, if your medical records are cleared for it, no questions asked! Then do it with someone you like.”

Saul smirked, eyes going to Clara for a reaction.

She did not disappoint. Her face twisted it up, as she glared holes at Shiro, then said pointedly at her youngest brother, “Do it with someone you  _ love,  _ Saul. And like ten years from now.” 

Shiro rolled his eyes, “Do it however you want. You don’t have to be precious about it. Maybe if we didn’t act like an omega losing their virginity was some kind of ultimate prize to be bestowed upon their partner, as if it’s some deep honor or great conquest, as if it’s the most valuable thing an omega could ever offer, then maybe there would be less omegas basing their self worth on the bodies they happen to inhabit. Forget that.” 

“Look at mami!” Clara argued, “He’s only had one partner, had sex out of love, and bonded with his one partner. You think mami bases his self worth on his body?”

“Mami’s an outlier in like everything.” Shiro dismissed.

Saul gasped. He was the only one actually looking at Keith, so he caught his raised eyebrow, amused expression and projected text first.

_ ‘Yes, I was Lance’s first and only partner. No, he wasn’t my first or only partner.’ _

“What?!” Said Shiro. “Mami!”

His kids looked outraged and scandalized. Keith laughed, causing another ball of smoke to escape his body through his mouth. The burn inside was still awful, but having his kids around casually chatting distracted him from it. Where was Lance anyway? He was missing out.

“Oh my god, you slept with Uncle Shiro, he’s my dad.”

“You don’t look like Uncle Shiro, dumbass.”

“Then why call me Shiro, why not call me Lance?!”

Keith about died. His grin was so broad it hurt his cheeks. He was in danger of collapsing in a fit of giggles, but he was afraid of triggering another scary coughing fit. 

_ ‘You’re sixteen years too late on that argument,’  _ he wrote.

_ “ _ I’m _ seventeen.” _

_ ‘I know.’ _

Little pink text message icons materialized and floated up from Clara’s breast pocket.

Saul’s smile turned evil when Shiro remarked, “Your  _ betrothed _ summons you, great alpha.”

“Shiro, you know what would be good for you?” asked Clara as she pulled out her comm and opened the texts. “A hundred year vow of silence.”

“That would kill him.” Said Saul, cheerfully.

The door swung open again. “Kitten, you wouldn’t believe where I ended up…” Lance trailed off as he stared at his family sitting on his bed. Maybe Silence and holidays had Keith overly sentimental, but he felt an overwhelming rush of warmth at seeing his alpha. He wanted to tease him and trade barbs, until they were both biting back laughter.

Lance looked the same as always; tall, lean and young, as if time had stopped for him after his catastrophic injury. They really did look like they were in Clara’s age group. The thought was troubling Keith more and more lately. On Earth, there was growing polarization over non-human aliens. Keith wondered what might be in store for them as a family… they were well respected and well-knitted into their community… but how would things change as their ‘alien-ness’ became glaringly obvious. He was sure Lance wanted to live the rest of his life on Earth, in Cuba… 

“Are you all crazy?!” Said Lance. He had dropped the bag of meds on an old rocking chair they kept in the bedroom. “You’re the only people around here, that could possibly catch what Kitten’s got, and you’re all over him!” He hauled Shiro right off the bed, dropping a kiss on his head. 

“I resent this. I’m seventeen.” Shiro pointed out, though he appeared resigned to being relocated like a child. 

Lance then waved Saul and Clara away as he sat by Keith. “Mami needs his rest! Shoo! Shoo!”

_ ‘I want them here. Clara’s talking to me.’ _

“I wasn’t not talking to you.” Said Clara, exasperated when she peeked at Keith’s projected text.

“That’s not what I heard.” Said Shiro, crossing his arms, as Saul rushed Lance and gave him a hug and kiss. “Feliz Navidad, papi, Mami’s love stink is choking all of us right now.” Saul informed matter-of-factly.

“Oh, reaaally?” said Lance, grinning wildly at Keith after planting a loud kiss on Saul’s forehead. 

_ ‘Merry Christmas, ego-face, _ ’ typed Keith, slightly smirking at how Lance puffed up in pleased pride.

Clara made her way around the bed and sat by Lance who immediately smacked a loud kiss on her cheek. She was busy eyeing Shiro, however. She shot back at her brother, “I’m surprised you heard anything at all over all that loud talking you do.” 

“You’re just trying to distract from the fact that you’re making a big mistake and you want the rest of us to go along with it. Can’t do it, big sis. You’re being  _ stupid _ .” Said Shiro. Saul had moved to sit at the end of the bed where Shiro was standing and looked at Clara as well, as if in silent agreement with Shiro; the two were often a united front against their sister.

Clara rolled her eyes, “You know what you are? A seventeen year old  _ brat _ .”

Keith felt Lance wrap his arms around him and pull him close. 

“You sure you don’t want me to toss these loud uninvited intruders out? I’m happy to do that.” said Lance over top of everyone, giving all of them the evil eye. 

He squeezed Keith, when he smiled and shook his head in response. It was interesting to watch his kids’ life carry on while he sat back as a silent observer. If something were to happen to him or Lance, at least his kids had each other. He wasn’t worried at all about the fighting. Somewhere along the way Keith realized, that their constant bickering was a form of devotion.

“Takes a brat to know a brat!” answered Shiro, though he glanced at Lance worriedly. 

“Your pajamas are a nightmare for sore eyes.” Saul said cheerfully to Shiro. “They mismatch very badly. The top is frayed at the armpit, while the bottom must’ve been part of a failed Halloween costume that you found buried in garbage.”

No one even blinked at him, as they were all accustomed to his soft spoken ruthless honesty.

“Your mouth is gonna get you in big trouble some day!” said Clara to Shiro.

“I learned from the best!”

“Do you mean mami or Clara?” asked Saul, but was ignored again. 

“Why did Rosa text you?” Shiro asked, as Saul began to hum to himself.

“Hm… none of your business?!” Right at that moment another text icon floated up from Clara’s comm.

“Oh my god, she is texting you again, why did she text you?! She’s three rooms away!”

“None of your damn business- SHIRO.”

Shiro had jumped his sister, going for her phone and her hand. He caught her off guard, causing them both to tumble down to the floor, but she quickly recovered, standing back up and pulling her hair up into a high bun, as if concerned that Shiro would grab hold. For his part, Shiro tried to knock her down again, but merely bounced off her side. 

Saul swung his feet, still humming and watching them fight. Keith was growing tired again, his eyelids beginning to droop. Distantly, he felt Lance shake his head, “I should trade the both of you in for some nice  _ quiet _ plants.”

“Why is she texting you?! Papi, Rosa was here earlier-”

“Would you shut up!!”

Shiro tried to grapple her wrist with his hands as he kept tattling, “She came in when you left, made mami eat hot soup, and stuck around uninvited!”

“She was trying to be good to mami — Shiro, stop jumping like that, you’re embarrassing yourself. SHIRO.”

“Stop!” said Saul. Something crashed to the floor, and Keith could hear some kind of struggle.

“Okay, that’s it!” Said Lance, apparently having had enough.”Out of here—all of you!!”

_ ‘It’s fine.’  _ Keith wanted to say, but when he opened his mouth on an inhale, phlegm and heat caught up with him. He coughed so hard that he couldn’t breathe, and each involuntary gasp came out as a high-pitched wheezing noise. He felt his limbs go numb, as the burn in his stomach sizzled and erupted out in rolling flames, that seared his skin from the inside. The world spun, as his vocal chords swelled.

He was left panting in silence, as someone cuddled him close. Keith looked up mostly on reflex and caught three sets of rounded purple eyes looking at him. They all seemed to have frozen in place, mid-fight.

“ _ Mami _ .” Clara whispered. “Is he okay? I’ve never seen him this sick before.”

“He’ll be fine, princesa.”

She hurried to his side and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Keith sagged against her, not feeling at all like himself and grateful his daughter was willing to get close. He was gonna let himself be coddled. It seemed to worry Clara who made a distressed noise in the back of her throat in response.

“Mami you’re not supposed to be like this. You’re supposed to be crossing your arms and raising your voice at us and telling me off.”

Well, not today. He just wanted to be close to his kids and alpha. He rested in her arms, listless. 

“Uh, yes, shove papi out of the way.” Keith heard Lance say before he felt another set of arms go around him; Shiro buried his face in the crook of Keith’s neck. Saul followed shortly thereafter coming in from Clara’s side and cuddling into Keith’s torso. Keith didn’t move to accommodate anyone.

“Mami…” Clara said, “You need to get better soon. I can’t stay mad at you like this.”

“See? You weren’t talking to mami.”

“I wasn’t not talking to him!”

“Interesting,” said Lance, who took the rocking chair and watched his kids shrewdly. “Since you never wanted me to patch him through to you.”

“You were avoiding mami,” Saul observed.

“You all always set me up as the bad guy! Avoiding mami isn’t a crime! I knew he wasn’t getting along with Rosa and I didn’t want to deal with it, okay?!”

“Everything is about Rosa with you,” snarked Shiro, just as Clara blurted, “I just want you all to like Rosa, is that so much to ask? She doesn’t come off so great I know but she’s been through a lot and deserves so much better! She’s kind of like mami but different.”

At everyone’s incredulous looks, she argued, “Seriously! She’s better than you think! You should give her a chance. She deserves a family like ours.” Clara said in a tiny voice, “Mami, I want you so bad to approve of her. I couldn’t figure out how to talk to you about Rosa without getting into another fight.”

Despite the state he was in, Keith was listening. He poked his daughter and motioned for the tablet. He thought drawing would be faster than typing so he squinted his eyes open and drew a stick figure with two curls at the head and a skirt and then a plus sign and a taller stick figure with long hair followed by an equal sign and the taller stick figure again with a big smile and a question mark. He projected the drawing.

His sons pounced. Shiro immediately took Keith’s tablet and added an equal sign and another figure with an ‘Sh’ t-shirt and angry eyebrows and frown. Then Saul grabbed it from Shiro and crossed out Shiro’s figure and drew an identical figure only one quarter of the height prompting a snort of laughter from Lance.

Keith took the tablet back from Saul while he was busy smiling at Shiro’s deadpan stare.

“You’re not funny, Saul.”

“I’m pretty funny and I can sing too.” He said with his usual sunny disposition.

Keith underlined the smiling figure and question mark to Clara, while her brothers continued to sass each other.

“ _ Si _ , mami. Si.” She whispered. There was an undercurrent in her response that hinted at the deep depth of feelings.

Keith sighed and tapped his fingers on the tablet, closing his eyes. Maybe it was the Silence fever, but he was seeing the Rosa issue from a new perspective.

He had so many misgivings about Clara’s future bondmate. So many. Once Clara revealed that she intended to bond with Rosa, Keith made it his business to know everything there was to know about her, and none of it filled him with confidence. She wasn’t lying that her last name meant something in some circles, but her particular family branch fell on hard times long ago, when pre-One World capitalism, and it’s pros and cons, returned to the island.

Her parents were actually her grandparents who went from owning acres of land and wine cellars when young to not affording any food on the table. Before they took her in, she lived with her biological mom who cared more about her next poppyspray hit than she ever did about shelter or safety and well being of her daughter. Rosa idolized her traditional grandparents and was clearly set on scaling a social ladder. 

Her dated view of the world clashed with everything Keith had ever fought for. He didn’t understand how Clara would be attracted to someone so diametrically opposed to their family’s values. During quiet pillow talks with Lance, they both worried that their daughter was more in love with the idea of rescuing Rosa rather than having any true feelings of love towards her. Rosa had none of the qualities that Clara would typically relish in a partner.

On the other hand, Clara smiled a lot around Rosa. And when Clara was off planet, Rosa visited often. She had no more personal aspiration than to cook and clean and be rich. She mostly talked about the things that she thought would make her and Clara’s life better, shallow material things, but she also bragged about Clara like she couldn’t get enough. Was the bragging out of love or ambition? Was both possible? Keith didn’t know. He did know that Rosa wasn’t evil. She wasn’t off killing people or destroying lives. 

Keith looked up at Clara and found her watching him. She looked worried, and he understood his daughter well enough to know there was a heap of hurt behind that look as well. He realized with a start that he was the one actively doing the hurting, even if all he was trying to do was look out for her. 

He thought of Lance. His alpha was with him on Rosa, yet he didn’t push Clara over it. Keith sighed; he had to keep relearning lessons. Relationships were a funny thing. He couldn’t know best on his daughter’s behalf. He couldn’t protect her from life, but he could support her, advise her and be there for her. All that mattered was if Clara was happy and safe, and it appeared that she was.

Keith refreshed the tablet screen and redrew the tall long-haired stick figure, a ‘greater than’ sign and a misshapen globe with the Milky Way stars surrounding it. He also drew: {Rosa smiley face} {equal sign} {Clara smiley face} {equal sign} {happy face stick figure with a ‘K’ t-shirt}

He felt Clara let out a quiet breath and hug him tight. He peeked at his bondmate who winked at him. Then Keith closed his eyes, smiling, ready for sleep.

“Clara, mami thinks you’re greater than one hairy testicle.” Shiro concluded after close inspection of the first image, prompting laughter.

“What did I say about that pie-hole of yours?” Clara asked dryly. Keith opened his eyes just a crack to catch his son’s reaction.

“It’s a penis hole-” Shiro paled as he looked over at Lance suddenly and changed tracks, “-LEE. Holy night.”

“The hell is a penis holy night, Shiro?” Keith heard Lance say. Oh no… He looked at his bondmate. Lance had stopped his casual rocking on the chair. Keith was sure that if he had his sense of smell at the moment he would catch a spike of stress pheromones from his alpha.

“I said  _ Venus _ holy night.” Shiro rushed to say, looking cornered and started babbling. “Traditional local holidays recognized by One World should not be limited to Earthly references. We have an entire solar system worth of human colonisation and civilization. If One World wants all of humanity to share a sense of common culture and unity, they would do well to officially mention other Solar System worlds that celebrate our traditions.”

“Venus is uninhabited.” Saul pointed out, smiling. “No one says Earth holy night, it’s simply holy night.”

Shiro took a deep breath to argue, but Lance interrupted with, “Why were you referring to your mouth as a penis hole?”

  
The mood definitely changed from there. The kids stilled and grew quiet. Shiro paled and knotted his fingers together. Things typically soured when Lance got on the topic of sex and his oldest son. Keith wasn’t up for running interference, although he was going to try; he cleared the screen, but as he gathered himself to type (or maybe he should draw)—

“He likes to have sex, papi. It’s not the end of the world,” said Clara. “He’s not a little boy with prepubescent heat anymore; you’ve raised a smart, loud-mouthed, well-adjusted hobgoblin, you can pat yourself on the back.”

Shiro looked over at his sister, bottom lip beginning to tremble, as Saul’s smile widened. He only stumbled once as he rushed towards her and threw his arms around her.

“I don’t like Rosa!” He wailed into her shoulder, “She’s gonna hurt you!”

“She’s not.” laughed Clara as she rubbed her brother’s back. 

Shiro stood back, wiping at his eyes and frowned at his dad who pursed his lips together and remained silent, staring at him. Keith finished a new drawing and tapped the tablet for attention to his handiwork:  _ {penis chasing scared Shiro stick figure}{equal sign}{happy stick figure with ‘L’ shirt}??? _

That seemed to have derailed Lance, whose eyebrows flew up towards his hairline. “What— Kitten, you’re delirious.”

Clara demanded, “Ma, did you just draw a giant dick chasing Shiro?! You need to  _ stop _ . Saul is right here!”

“I am!” Cheered Saul as he leaned over Keith and added a Santa hat to the penis drawing. Shiro looked torn between laughing or fainting, “Why is it chasing — no — why is papi smiling?!”

Keith wasn’t doing so hot, his eyes burned, if he kept them open for long, but he forged on and drew one last important comment as he exhaled a big ball of steam:  _ {giant penis} {equal sign} {happy Shiro stick figure} {hearts}{Keith stick figure and big heart}{equal sign}{Keith dragon?}— _

“I’ll take that now.” Lance snatched the tablet away. “Kids, its bedtime.”

“Was that a chicken?” Shiro wondered.

“Okay, there is really nothing left to say after all that. I’m out of here. Merry Christmas,” said Clara, as she pushed Shiro back and slipped out of the bed. She tucked Keith in and shoved the blanket up to his neck. “Thank you, mami, for coming around. Love you.” She kissed him on the cheek.

“Merry Christmas! Feel better, mami,” chirped Saul while he leaned into Lance to try and work his youngest child magic. He asked sweetly, “Could you please send me mami’s drawing? It’s very good.”

Lance beamed at his son and said sweet as cotton candy, “Nope!”

“You can draw your own holiday penis, c’mon, Saul.” Said Clara as she sheparded him out the door. “Let’s go, Shiro. Love you, papi.”

Keith felt a quick peck on his cheek and Shiro’s quiet, “Feliz Navidad, mami. Good night, Papi.”

“Hold on, Shiro,” said Lance after his farewells to his other kids.

Keith groaned to himself. Couldn’t his son and his alpha have a talk when Keith was more with it? He wanted badly to be truly there for them both. He heard Shiro groan too. Then their door was quietly shut.

“[What is it? I didn’t… I didn’t do anything. I was just joking around—]”

There was a sudden sharp inhale. Keith shoved the blanket away and blearily looked up. Lance had pulled Shiro into a bear hug. His son was small enough to be completely engulfed in his dad’s arms.

“Papi, you can’t do this, I cry easy!” Shiro sniffled. “See?!”

Lance cupped Shiro’s cheeks with his hands and smiled crookedly at him, “You sure you’re not still eight?”

“Uhh, I would be a very disturbing eight-year-old with the kinds of things I think about.” His words were somewhat muddled due to his slightly smooshed cheeks. “Or maybe genius? Precocious!”

Lance grinned at him, causing Shiro to burst into tears.

“Shiro! Why are you crying?” Lance laughed softly in surprise as he slid his hands down to Shiro’s elbows.

“I don’t know! I’m not getting into college, and I worked really hard, and now I have to live with the fact that you think I love to give blowjobs.” Shiro took a deep sobbing breath, “Which I do! And I don’t want to disappoint you, and now you won’t talk to me because you tried to protect me all this time, and this is the thanks you get. And I’m gonna die in your attic with churros and Camilo since he promised he won’t leave me behind.” He finished in an agonized whisper that was barely audible, “I love churros so much.”

Keith wouldn’t have been able to peel the smile off his own face if he tried. His son was a very unique individual.

“I’ll always talk to you. You’re getting into college. You can keep your room, you don’t have to live in the attic. I know you love churros and have this weird thing with Camilo—”

“It’s not weird, he’s my best friend bodyguard sometimes boyfriend. I’d like him to sire at least one of my future children, if it’s a boy, I’ll name him Curtis. If I have a daughter I’ll name her Emily like my auntie, I love her.”

“Shiro.” Lance sighed. “Okay. What I was trying to say is that one day I’ll get over myself and tolerate you growing up…” He squeezed Shiro’s elbows as he said, “I just want you to know-” 

His son interrupted, “Oh no, you’re gonna say something really touching, and I’m never gonna be able to stop crying…”

“Let me finish.”

“Here it comes.” Shiro’s voice was already wavering and pitched high.

“I want you to know that most of all—”

“Oh god!”

“I love churros too.”

Shiro’s surprise came out as a snorting laughing noise that he muffled on his dad’s shoulder. Lance peeled him away just enough to press their foreheads together, “And I love you. And I’m proud of you. No matter what.”

Shiro’s big grin collapsed as his face crumpled to pieces. He squeezed his eyes shut. and after a moment he nodded, words evading him for once. They hugged tightly, rocking slightly in each other’s arms. Keith smiled at the pain and happiness he saw in his alpha and son. Love was hard.

Keith really couldn’t push away his exhaustion any longer. His eyes burned too. 

He fell asleep.

\---

He awoke later that morning to the curious feeling of an extremely hot upper body and a heavenly cool ass. The heavy blankets he was under had been pulled up, leaving his backside exposed. A hand tucked behind his knee and raised his bent leg up higher. He realized he had no pants on when the same hand spread his butt cheeks apart.

Keith had his genius idea just as a thick waxy capsule breached his anus. “Put some ice up in there too.” He managed to croak. 

“Uh, no. Maybe a jalapeño, you’re supposed to sweat it out. Go back to sleep, Kitten.”

“Mmf.”

Fine.

\--- 

A few days later, Keith was feeling a great deal better. He was sprawled out on the lush grass of the barnhouse property that Lance often maintained on behalf of his sister. A big chunk of Lance’s extended family was there too, complete with all the kids and their friends. They were scattered across the hill in small groups, talking loudly or dancing to music that always seemed to materialize on its own when family gathered.

The fiery reds and oranges of dusk was settling over the land. Keith could feel the buzz of excitement among the kids in the family who were using the excuse of a test run to launch their e-fireworks into the sky. Faery lights strung over trees, and barn structures glistened bright as darkness descended. He spotted Clara relaxing by herself underneath the canopy of avocado trees. Rosa was walking from group to group, serving tray in hand, offering homemade ice-cream pops.

Keith had his melting in his mouth. The coffee and milk flavor was delicious. He rolled to his side and eyed his alpha critically. Lance was laying beside him on his back, one arm behind his head and staring up at the sky, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Keith rolled on top of him and popped his icecream out.

“Omega tit for your thoughts.”

Lance smirked, he had only the stick left of his icecream which he was chewing on, “How much for the pair?”

“That would require a giant dick deposit.”

Lance frowned, “Because of you, I now think of Shiro being chased by a giant dick when I think of giant dicks.”

“You think about giant dicks too?” said Keith, “We have that in common.” He couldn’t help it, “With our son.”

His alpha made a face, pushed him off his chest and rolled onto his side, propping his head on his hand. “It doesn’t bug you at all?”

“Giant dicks? They’re a pain in my ass.”

“Kitten.”

“Don’t worry, I like pain.”

Lance huffed then rolled onto his stomach and gnawed his popsicle stick as he watched his family down below. They were perched higher up for a good view of the valley. Keith gave his limbs a good stretch then mimicked Lance’s pose and scooted close until their sides pressed together.

“The kids are fine. I’m not worried about Shiro.” He popped his icecream out, inspecting the remaining lump of cream.

Lance’s brows furrowed in concern as he eyed Keith’s popsicle. “Can I see that for a second?”

Keith handed it to him. His alpha spat out his own stick and stuck Keith’s in his mouth. “Thanks.”

“Asshole. I hope the poison meant for me kills you.”

Lance grinned, glancing at him. “You’d be dead by now if Rosa was trying to kill you.”   
  
“She doesn’t know what’s poisonous to half-Galra. She’s testing out options.”

“Doesn’t seem to stop you from eating her food.”

Keith shrugged, “It’s tasty. She makes good eggplant stew.”

“That’s all thanks to the heirloom Martian-forged knives we have in the kitchen.”

He tried to remember if he had ever brought back flatware from Mars. Neither he nor Lance were fussy about cookware. “We don’t have heirloom knives.”

“She thinks we do.”

Keith smirked. “You know Clara’s gonna blame that one on me when she finds out.”

“Yeah, it’s great.”

“Asshole.”

“You said that one already.”

Keith smiled to himself and stuck his nose on Lance’s arm, indulging in his alpha’s pheromones. He noted the muted stress in his scent. 

“What’s in your head?”

Lance shrugged. “Sad memories of not murdering assholes who wondered if my nine-year old had partners for his heat cycles.”

Keith bit his lip. It seemed that all his kids suffered in some way because of him and his heritage; he couldn’t birth Clara properly, Shiro had his hormone issues and Keith had to make peace with the unbearable consequences of Saul’s particular combination of genes. He kept this bit of guilt to himself. 

Lance continued, bitterly, “Thinking of the times when grown-ass adults looked at Shiro differently than they would the other kids as if Shiro could help his scent. And how it took eight years for us to realize that he could scent pheromones and suffered from hormonal imbalance his whole life. We had no fucking clue.”

Shiro’s particular imbalance wasn’t detectable through any of the extensive range of standard checks on Earth. Even their initial time off planet, the medics at Wellspring never raised flags over Shiro. His hormones must’ve seemed to be within acceptable parameters, or something changed, or the probability of issues were too low to note as a concern. 

“The  _ fuckers _ that believed their noses over their eyes and started flirting with a nine-year-old.”

Keith tugged Lance’s elbow out from under him so Lance folded his hands over the grass and rested his chin on top of them. Keith rearranged himself so his own chin was resting on his bondmate’s shoulder and his lips pressed close to his ear. He realized he was watching Shiro who was next to his brother and surrounded by teenage friends and family and gesturing dramatically (Camilo was at his side, hanging on to his hand as if he were hanging onto a kite in a hurricane). 

Keith changed the narrative, as they watched their kids together, “This was the same nine year old that made friends everywhere he went and laughed a lot and had fun. The ten year old that  _ looked forward _ to his heats because it meant getting spoiled by his family afterwards. The eleven year old, the twelve year old, the thirteen all the way to seventeen year old that can’t stop talking, and rails over social injustices, and has no problem going toe to toe with his much older alpha sister, and is close to both his siblings. Same kid that never wants to disappoint his alpha dad because he thinks the world of him. Clara was right, Lance, you did good. And it’s time to let Shiro grow up.”

“Don’t wanna.” Lance pouted.

Keith smirked. “You told me once I had to let Clara grow into her own.”

“I was wrong.”

“No, you weren’t.” Laughed Keith.

Lance sighed again, sinking even further into the grass. “At least we still have Saul.”

Keith was glad that Lance couldn’t scent him. A bit of his old torment over Saul washed over him but he carried on, teasing, “Yeah, we can stunt his growth and raise him forever.”

“Solid plan, Kitten.” 

Keith grinned and closed his eyes, nuzzling his bondmate.

“Anyway, we should go get ready. You wanna sweep or mop?” 

Ugh. Every year Lance inflicted Cuban New Year traditions on his omega and every year Keith made sure to resist the worst of it. “The cleaning bots are programmed to sweep, mop and discard the dirt they collected.”

Lance sat up, taking Keith with him. “Kitten, it’s not the same.”

“No, it’s not. It’s better.”

“Sweeping once a year hasn’t killed you yet.”

“Rosa enjoys cooking and cleaning, have her do it.”

Lance stood up and brushed himself off. Lights and shadows from the faerie lights and fireworks danced across his skin as he offered his hand to Keith. 

“Kitten…”

His alpha’s soft smile, the shouts of laughter and chatter, the scent of grass and ripe fruit that permeated the valley on the unbearably humid night. Keith accepted the hand with a grin and let his bondmate drag him back to their family home.

\--- 

“Okay!” Lance burst, pointing an accusing finger at Keith, “You’ve been sweeping that corner for the last two hours.”

“There was especially bad juju in this area.” Keith waved in the general direction of the dining table as he snapped off another piece of almond nougat and popped it in his mouth.

“You’re dropping crumbs all over the floor!”

“That’s the bad juju’s fault.” Keith clarified.

He nearly choked on nougat when his broom was snatched away and a loud slap suddenly stung his ass. Keith cracked up as Lance swept up his mess.

“You’re a fucking dirt bandit.”

Lance dropped the waste in the bucket of dirty mop water he had collected and carefully placed the bucket by the main entrance. He stomped back and glared at Keith, “You got anything to say for yourself?! I cleaned up the whole house and you swept one floor tile very badly.”

Keith thought about it. Not really. Mostly he thought that it was unlikely for the rest of the family to come back until at least another hour or so. When they did, they would be disappointed by the lack of promised nougat… Hopefully, Rosa would take his dedication to eating her homemade turron as a compliment. He nodded at Lance.

Lance gestured for him to proceed.

Keith made sure to keep eye contact as he pulled up his shirt and exposed his modest boobs to Lance. He stared at his alpha who stared back from the opposite end of the kitchen. His bondmate’s mouth began to tremble ever so slightly and the corner of it quirked up before he got a hold of himself.

“Kitten.”

“Mm?”

“Use your words.”

“Can’t.”

“Why?”

“Your eldest son stole all the words.”

A big grin was barely stifled. “Kitten.”

“Yeah.” Keith adjusted his grip on his shirt.

“You gonna stand there like that, pants up, tits out?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” Lance closed the distance between them and pulled Keith’s shirt the rest of the way off. “This’ll make it easier.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Keith got down on his knees.

“Problem.” Said Lance.

“Yeah?” Keith held the pull tab of Lance’s fly. He kept his eyes trained on the interesting movement that started to stretch the crotch area of the jeans in front of him.

“We’re in the kitchen and someone could come in.”

“It’s our house.”

“Someone like our kids.”

Keith risk-assessed again. For New Year’s, family never came back before eleven. Still, there was always the possibility, and the thought was horrifying. Plus they had to get other things ready. Forget it. Keith sighed and patted the dick farewell as he stood up. Next thing he knew he was on his tiptoes crushed to his alpha’s chest.

“The laundry room’s better!”

Keith smirked. “Maybe we should—” he was hefted up higher.

“Can’t talk, boobs!” Lance planted his face on Keith’s chest and walked away with him. They hit at least two door frames on the way to the laundry. Keith was laughing helplessly as Lance sighed, nuzzled, and ‘mm-ed’ in happiness.

“You want me to suck your dick or what?” Keith managed to say once they reached their destination. 

“Yeah.” His alpha’s voice was muffled. He refused to relocate his face as he felt for his jeans and tugged them down to his thighs. Lance nearly ripped Keith’s pants off too in his haste, though he managed to find the step stool they stored in the room with his feet and felt for the cleaning unit. He climbed up onto it which caused Keith to straddle his lap and confirm what his nose was telling him.

Lance was  _ really _ into it. His alpha dick had grown thick and was straining as Keith settled his weight on top. He pressed his own dick against the heated skin of Lance’s abdomen and rocked his hips, getting a good friction-y slide through the soft length of his folds. He tried to slide off of Lance’s lap to get to work but his alpha’s arms tightened around him.

He wasn’t doing anything particularly interesting to Keith’s chest, he simply had his face wedged there. His hands weren’t doing anything fun either just gripping Keith’s sides tight.

“I thought you wanted a blowjob?”

“Boobs.” Lance insisted and crushed Keith to him, thrusting his hips hard. Felt good, but far from enough for Keith. He stared at the top of Lance’s head and the flush gathering on his shoulders in amusement. He forgot how into boobs Lance was, they hadn’t had sex in a while for no real reason, and then Lance got sick, and then Keith got Galra sick and horny and tried to get Lance to have sex with him through boob baiting, but fell asleep or burned his alpha’s dick with his insides that one time before anything happened.

“Do you need me here for this?”

“Leave your boobs and puss.” Lance started to shake and pant harder.

“The rest of me is attached. You better fuck me good later.”

“Will do.” Lance’s hips jerked, and he moaned long and low. Keith felt the slight quiver of his hips and muscular thighs followed by spreading wetness that pooled between his legs. A flare of heat zinged through Keith’s core, and he squirmed. Okay, that last bit where Lance lost it, Keith liked. More of that soon, please. In the meantime, Lance finally came up for air. Sort of. He pressed soft kisses on Keith’s tits then leaned back and smiled lazily.

Keith traced the old scar that interrupted young features before he realized he was doing it. Worry began to weigh heavy in his heart. He’d feel better if Lance had at least a touch of crows feet at the corner of his eyes or maybe frown lines between his brows or a grey hair or two. 

“Lance…”

“Yeah.”

It had to be addressed. “We’re not aging...” He paused, “ _ You’re _ not aging.”

Courtesy of last resort biologics and other-wordly intervention by the one and only Altean powerful enough to manipulate quintessence on that scale, and she was now gone. His youthfulness could not be replicated. Fat chance that humanity would take Lance or Keith at their word on this. What would they do to Lance if they thought that he had somehow tapped into a fountain of youth? Keith shuddered to think.

“I know, baby.” Lance took his hand rubbing at his knuckles. “Let’s not worry about it just yet.”

“We need to. Soon.” Keith was not one to hide from reality.

Lance simply nodded.

“ _ Mami _ !  _ Papi _ ! [Do you need any help?]”

Speaking of unpleasant reality. Of course, Rosa would be the one to come back early.

“No!” Keith snapped before he caught himself. He smiled because Shiro had advised him that it would help him sound more friendly if he smiled as he talked. “We’re all set,” he called out, beaming.

“You sound like a manic serial killer fresh off a killing spree,” whispered Lance.

“Fuck you,” Keith whispered back. He scooted off Lance’s lap and dug through the cleaner unit for a clean towel.

“[Mami, where are you?]”

“Give me a sec, I’ll be right with you.” Keith chirped through his teeth. He found a towel and soaked it in water and soap using the laundry sink. He then propped a foot up on the step stool Lance had used and squatted down enough to scrub his crotch.

Lance raised an eyebrow, smirking. “My delicate omega flower — so beautiful, mysterious, and made for pollination,” he whispered, borrowing from one of Rosa’s oft-repeated quotes. She had an endless supply of them, which she learned from her mother (actually her grandmother but she called her mama) and, after that Christmas fight with Shiro, she deployed liberally whenever he was within range. Shiro would virtually hiss and gnash his teeth at her and argue. At least it made him forget about his college worries.

“This delicate pollinated flower is going to punch you in the fucking face.” Keith hissed as he scrambled for clothes to wear.

Lance was red from holding back laughter. “Not possible,” He swallowed, “You can’t reach,” and slapped away the towel aimed at his head.

\--- 

Keith found Rosa back in the kitchen. She was setting out another big plate of turron.

“Mami, ya prepararon el muñecon. Estan listo!” She grinned.

The big doll that the family had made of straw and rags was ready for the bonfire. Keith nodded. Great. He supposed. In his book, it was yet another inexplicable ritual but he’d participated in a lot of those in his lifetime. 

“[Did you like the nougat?]”

“[Yes. It was good. Thank you for making it.]”

“[I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I would’ve made more if I had known, but my alpha just absolutely adores my flan so I had to make at least one of those. Her favorite is the traditional caramel which isn’t hard at all to make, but I had to go restock on eggs.]” She took a deep breath, smiling, “[After that. I had so little time left to clean our apartment, but I managed it. It is now sparkling from top to bottom! I can only imagine what it would’ve been like if our humble little apartment was as big as your home! May you and papi continue to be blessed! But you know, my darling and I—]”

Keith sighed internally, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Everything with Rosa was just so… pretentious and uninteresting. He could scent that he was making her nervous and tried to figure out how to put her at ease. He settled for inane smiling and nodding. First time for everything. How did she even hook up with his daughter? Clara wasn’t easy to get along with.

“[How did you and Clara meet?]” He interrupted her mid-stream. He hadn’t bothered to know when he thought she was a passing interest. She blinked a few times, still smiling and swallowed audibly. Shit, that was probably rude. Where was Lance? He needed his social awareness. 

“[I met Clara at the Altagracia Skunkworks grounds.]”

A civilian branch of flyer innovation. The grounds were accessible to anyone but mostly it was a place where engineers and flying hotshots congregated. Keith frowned. Rosa was probably out there, prospecting for an alpha engineer to date. They were known to be highly paid.

“Ah.”

“[She was usually covered completely in grime, and quite often what I saw was her boots swinging in the air because the rest of my alpha was belly deep in the engine hold of an anti-grav flyer! She was beautiful! Foul-mouthed, but beautiful!]”

Keith had to smile a little; that very much sounded like his daughter. 

Rosa seemed heartened. “[I wash all of her clothes and coveralls when she is home! The least I can do is make sure she starts out clean for work. Her colleagues should know there is an omega at home taking care of her!]”

Keith groaned, unable to help himself. Rosa’s smile faded. The conversation trailed into silence.

“[Well!]” She recovered. “[Your home is not fully clean yet! My alpha left all those hopper bikes in your backyard — she usually takes impeccable care of her machines, but the holidays had caught up with her, and she hadn’t had a chance to take care of them as she should. I’ll dust them, we don’t want to risk leaving any bad omens around for the New Year!]

She invited herself to the cleaning supplies stashed in the pantry room and hurried out to the backyard. In the dark. Keith sighed again and waved a screen into existence as he tore off another piece of nougat. Lance came in carrying a jug of cider and several clusters of yellow-green grapes.

“Where the hell have you been?” Keith wondered as he switched on the backlights for Rosa.

“Not eating my way into a sugar coma and giving you heart-to-heart time with your favorite new maid-in-law.” His alpha tossed the grapes into the sink to rinse them. “Get the bowls, Kitten.”

Keith kept his eyes on Rosa as he got the bowls and grabbed a cluster of grapes. He counted out bunches of twelve grapes to drop into each bowl. “I think she wanks off to housekeeping. It’s all she talks about. I don’t understand how she goes together with our daughter.”

“She asked for anything?”

“Not this time. I was making her nervous.”

“You?” Lance said in disbelief, “Sugartits?”

Keith’s mouth quirked as he rolled his eyes.

“You should go fake-help her the way you fake-help me whenever something needs to be cleaned. Make her feel like you enjoy her company.”

“But I don’t.”

“You fake it until you make it, Kitten.”

Ugh. “That’s stupid.”

Lance joined him at the dining table, eyeing Rosa too as he grabbed bowls to distribute the grapes. He kissed Keith over the top of his head. “It’s the way of the world. Clara would appreciate it.”

“Fine.” Keith shoved another big chunk of nougat in his mouth and headed out. His daughter’s future bondmate smiled at him as he tried to approach her with the same demeanor he used on his kids when they were little and afraid of something. It was quite difficult to fake. At least with a mouthful of candy, he wouldn’t have to bother with forcing an unfelt smile. 

“[Would you like some help?]”

“[Mami, don’t even dream of it! You have so much on your plate as a host!]”

Uhh, Lance took care of all that. Keith used to mind the kids but now he mostly ate, spoiled Saul, and flirted with his bondmate for the holidays.

“[Okay, thanks.]” He said, lamely. Keith crossed his arms and leaned against the open shed, watching her work. She had piled her mass of perfect curls up high, pinned in place by miniature rhinestone hair combs, and was wearing a camisole made of shimmery material instead of one of her typical knee-length sundresses. She was also wearing a pair of simple black leggings. Keith looked down at himself — he was wearing one of his many tanktops and a pair of leggings too. Interesting.

What was also interesting was the way she was cleaning his daughter’s hopper bikes. She expertly snapped open the correct components in order to remove the parts of the outer shell that needed a shine. Hopper bikes, unlike cyclers, were flyers known and loved mostly by a small but passionate group of flyerheads. Keith knew a thing or two about them from testing them for his daughter.

“The shockchain compression looks dirty on that one.”’

She frowned and got up on her knees to inspect the compressor, giving it a test roll with her finger. Rosa then smiled, “[It’s actually clean! That solargrease needs to be there.]”

She knew where to look and she knew what she was talking about. Huh.

Keith meandered towards one of the other bikes and casually stuck the heel of his foot on the configurator paddle in exactly the wrong way. Rosa made the same expression Clara would when faced with such blasphemy. 

“[Mami, I have the bikes under control,]” She blurted then cleared her throat and smiled in that proper homemaker omega way of hers, “[I promise I’ll have them clean in time for New Year’s!]”

“Great. One of the first things I want to do for the New Year is try and push one of these past their two knot hops.”

“[Two point six, my alpha’s pushed them past two knots already. Two point six is the time to beat.]”

Oh, how her eyes lit up at the latter half of her comment. Keith knew for himself that the history log had two point six. It had that number because he was the one that put it there (Lance had reached two point five).

“Pushing them past two point four is dangerous,” Keith said. The bikes were supposedly impossible to keep under control at that velocity.

She snapped the outershell piece back on the bike she was handling and smiled softly to herself as she replied reverently, “[Yeah.]”

_ Ohhhhh ho ho ho! _ Keith smiled genuinely at his daughter’s future bondmate maybe for the first time ever. Rosa had a need for speed!

Hopper bikes had an odd method of locomotion. They were always fully manual and travelled exclusively over self-generated energy planes. Pilots had to land on the materialized platform just right to spring to the next or they would stall. A hopper bike flown by a good pilot looked like a rabbit hopping across a field. A hopper bike flown by a crazy pilot looked like a pinball, trapped in a pinball machine from hell, hurtling through whirlwind spinners, bumpers, and ramps. 

“Have you flown a hopper?” Keith asked.

Rosa laughed, ‘[Mami… mama always says — why would a proper omega learn to fly when we have other dynamics falling over themselves to fly us where we please? Present company excluded of course — you are one of a kind!]

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’.” Keith said as he strolled over to a row of lockers and tapped open the storage revealing helmets and suits inside. He pulled them out and went over to the footgear storage where he stashed aviation shoes.

He tossed a pair to Rosa. “[Try those on. Do they fit?]”

She looked uncertain; wary as if the shoes might grow teeth and bite her. Rosa stood up and after a moment of consideration, she pulled off her pair of respectable flats and worked her feet into the offered shoes. “[Mami, my alpha always takes me wherever I need and when she isn’t around, the airbus-]”

“Do those fit?” Keith asked as he went up to her holding two helmets. Her scent revealed stress; whether excitement or fear, Keith didn’t know.

“[Well, yes, but—]”

Keith shoved the helmet over her head.

“[My hair!]” she yelped, dropping a scrub brush as her hands flew up towards her curls.

Keith rolled his eyes as he threw on his own helmet and selected a favored bike. He powered it on, causing the hopper to generate a flat glowing plane low to the ground as it bobbed upright on top of it. He gripped the handlebar and nodded towards the backseat.

“Get on the pillion.”

She hesitated again, eyes going from the bike to Keith and back. Rosa opened her mouth then thought better of it. She took one hesitant step then another and another until she was next to the hopper. She looked back at Keith as if to reassure herself, then took a deep breath and gingerly sat sideways on the seat, folding her hands neatly over her lap.

“It’s not a sidesaddle.”

“[Mami, a proper omega—]”

Keith cut her off again. He really had had enough of all that proper/improper omega stuff she’d been spewing all through the holidays. “A proper omega is just an omega living their life. Straddle it.”

She looked at Keith as if he was crazy. “[There are rules to learn and roles to play in life. Where there are no rules and no roles, there is moral decay and despair. A proper omega has to learn the rules to live life right. A proper omega is the only thing that can stop moral decay from gaining a foothold!]” 

Sounded like a quote.

“Straddle it.”

She stuck her chin up. “[I wouldn’t know how! It’s not  _ proper _ . It’s not proper for an omega to spread their legs like that.]”

“[So you side straddle my daughter when you’re riding her knot?]”

Rosa almost fell off the bike. Keith threw an arm out to steady her and tried to hide his smile as her face turned red as a beet. He clarified, “[It’s not proper for an omega to be ashamed for spreading their legs like that.]”

“[How could you say that?]” She said, aghast.

Keith shrugged and sat next to her, side-by-side on the bike. “I’ve spread my legs for balance to fight and save my own life and life of others. I’ve spread my legs because I’ve been sick to my stomach and that’s the only way my body could purge. I’ve spread my legs wide because my bondmate wanted to give me pleasure and I wanted to give him pleasure back. I’ve spread my legs wide and pushed my guts out to give life. Spreading my legs has given me my daughter and my two sons and because of them, I want to do the right thing more than ever. I’m proud of what spreading my legs have done, it has given me strength in the best and worst of times. It’s proper in my book. What’s not proper are people trying to violate or limit or control my strength. That’s the real moral decay.”

He smirked at her narrowed mutinous look, “Now straddle the fucking bike.”

\--- 

It was fifteen minutes before the New Year. Lance’s sisters’ chit-chatter was picked up by the helmet’s ambient sound setting, the familiar teasing tones followed by shouts of laughter grew louder. They were coming through the kitchen entrance, as was the habit of everyone that visited, which brought them past the flyer shed. The rest of the family would shortly follow. 

Keith checked the time again as he took his feet off the foot paddle to push-walk the bike out of the shed. He eyed the glowing bike-generated surface that his feet sifted through, reviewing in his head how its sand-like particles responded to his maneuvers when the bike was in self-propelled motion. The bike platform was made of millions of individual spheres, like marbles that winked in and out of existence and crackled underneath the bike. 

In the back of his mind, Keith knew that it was not a good idea to go for a joyride now if he wanted to meet the New Year with his family in the traditional Cuban fashion. Still, when he made up his mind he always followed through. 

“[We should be heading back to our alphas.]” Rosa’s voice sounded even higher pitched than usual. It rang crisp and clear through the helmet’s speaker.

“Keep your whole body directly behind mine,” Keith instructed as he adjusted the elastic straps on his racing gloves.

“[My dearest has been texting me, she is wondering where I’ve gone.]” The microphone picked up her shallow puffs of breath. 

“Hold on to my waist. Tilt your head so you can see past my helmet.”

Rosa’s thin arms were strong like iron bands coiling around Keith’s middle. It reminded Keith that she had a rough start. In childhood, Rosa spent her time handwashing, ironing and folding clothes in the homes of people who couldn’t afford a cleaning unit but could afford her. She would take care of her school uniform as well and would take slivers of any hair product she could find in her clients’ bathrooms. Rosa might’ve been on the streets half the time with her strung-out mom but her schoolmates never knew as there was always gloss to her hair and starch in her clothes. 

When her grandparents took her in, she made tamales and kneaded dough for bread to stock her grandmother’s bread cart. She would join her when not in school and saw how her grandma curled her lips at the poor around her and railed at the uncouth immorality of her bread cart customers. Rosa knew she and grandma were so much better than the trash around them. Her own mother’s steer away from morals was what got her in her situation in the first place. These were things that Rosa revealed along the way when she argued with Shiro. Keith preferred listening to that rather than deal with her attempts to charm him and Lance (while angling for  _ things _ ) in order to secure her place in their family.

Keith and Lance understood survival more than anyone; Rosa was clawing at resources and their daughter was her solution to a lot of things. Keith did not like his family being used, but he promised he would try to get along because Clara swore the affection was genuine, and he’d been pushing her away with his vocal dislike for Rosa. His relationship with Clara was more important.

[Mami, I really don’t-]”

She hesitated when the bike dipped in place and hissed like an old fashioned steam-engine, as Keith checked the manual gears. He would acclimate to his daughter’s omega. If there was the potential of more to Rosa than her old-fashioned beliefs, cemented by a grandmother she idolized and called mom, then Keith would try to encourage that. And Lance would be a funny foil to her resource scouting; he knew how to manipulate for a laugh and teach a lesson or two along the way. Keith smirked, adrenaline pumping, when his testing of the accelerator and skip pedals caused the bike to roar to life. He rechecked the safeties hooking Rosa to himself.

“[I really don’t think-]” There was a touch of hysteria in that saccharine sweet omega tone.

“Lean when I lean. Try to be an extension of me riding the bike.” Everything was in order. Keith switched e-gears. The platform thickened, raising the bike higher off the ground as it slid back hard, its rear raising higher than the front like a puppy in play-bow position, ready to pounce. Rosa clung to Keith’s waist. The platform crackled and glowed red just as Keith’s in-laws ran back out shouting in delight followed by Lance, who raised an eyebrow and smirked. 

“[I really don’t think I should be seen like-]” 

Keith released the brake and gunned the accelerator.

“[-THIIIIII----AHHHHHHHHhhhhyaaaaaaiiiyaaaaaiyaaiyaiyaiyai!]”

The bike rocked into the sky, shooting several stories high in a wide arch. Keith triggered the next platform jump while at the peak of their current flight path—the platform lit up the empty field behind the barn house. The hopper descended towards the platform like a rollercoaster on a side-arching track. Rosa had a good pair of lungs. She screeched louder than the bike screeched, as it shot towards the ground. Using his body to maneuver the bike, Keith hit the platform tail-end first. The platform sounded like sifting sand as they skidded across its surface. It then exploded, energizing the bike as it launched for the next hop.

“AY DIOS MIO,” Rosa screamed finally able to form words. “WHERE ARE WE GOING?”

“Up.”

Keith triggered the next few hops like a short stack of stairs. The bike accelerated faster with each step, eating up the hill’s incline and barrelling towards the roof of the barn house. The next platform materialized vertically among the dazzling e-fireworks, like a massive kite made of fireflies. They sailed through the sky as if propelled by a slingshot. Keith kept his body relaxed and low on the bike. Rosa was snug behind him, her body clenched tight in fear.

“[We are going to crash!]” She warned as Keith grinned. He shifted his weight off-center and hung hard to the side forcing the bike to reach the rooftop at an angle, its surface repeller modules flashed in the air, as he twisted and jerked back. The bike, now pointing up at the night-sky, collided into its platform and shot up as if spring-loaded. The stars and fireworks were a blur, as Keith triggered the next plane jump in front of them, now red and slightly to their left. They hit it at an angle, causing them to zag. He triggered the next platform, now blue and on the right. They zigged.

They hit platform after platform as if they were bumper walls, shooting up in the sky in a zigzag fashion. Keith and Rosa were like fireworks themselves.

“Yaaaahhhahahaha!!!” Rosa whooped, cackling throatily in delight, the rush of flying peeling away her good omega etiquette.

“Look up.” 

Keith pulled hard on the gears and stretched his body back to loop, forcing the bottom of the bike to face the stars. They both looked up at the Earth above them. Time seemed to stop. The whole town was in view. Bright street lights shimmered in the town center and across house-lined neighborhoods. The lit smartroads leading away from town cut through dark patches of farmland where sudden flashes of multi-colored fireworks burst across the sky, reminding Keith that everyone in Cuba and the world was celebrating. On their own hillside, the family had a roaring bonfire going; one that would burn away any bad spiritual vibes left in preparation for the new year.

“Oh my god…” whispered Rosa breathlessly.

Keith smiled. Yeah.

Time sped up again. Keith switched gears and triggered the next jump once the bike completed the loop. Using his thighs and his small hands and the rest of his strong body, Keith guided the bike with a finesse few could master. The bike drifted down as if carried on a summer breeze; it sank into the platform gracefully, then hopped off it like a frog, prompting Rosa to laugh. 

“[Amazing! What fun!]” She cried. At least here in the moment, she wasn’t so worried about roles and rules.

They hopped down to Earth in a slow spiral towards the cheering kids that were running towards them.

“ _ MAMI _ .” Shiro must have downloaded a bullhorn app, his voice rang like a wrathful god from the pollinator drones that zipped into the sky, “MAMI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, THERE ARE THREE MINUTES LEFT TO NEW YEAR’S, WE ARE GOING-HEY!”

He was standing alongside Camilo on a hover-cart filled with bales of hay. Clara had stomped over to her brother, shoved Camilo aside and had snatched his comm away.

He was right, though. Shit! Keith powered down the bike, not wanting to abandon everyone that had hung around to watch him. Clara pulled Keith into a hug and kissed his visor when she reached him. She grabbed Rosa’s hand, untethering her from Keith and helped her with the helmet. “[You daredevil!]” Clara teased her future bondmate who grinned.

Little cousins and teens were surrounding them, talking over each other at once ( _ Can I try?! Can I go with you?! What kind of bike is that? Can you do it again? I got next! _ ).

“Hey, hey, hey!” Shouted Shiro, inserting himself into the middle of the crowd and gesturing furiously towards the house. “You all want bad luck?! I need my college wishes, we need to go  _ now _ ! C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!”

Keith felt a hand slide into his. “Mami,” said Saul very calmly, smiling. His violet eyes seemed to shine with good humor. He had the most alien shade of purple among them. “Let’s go!”

With a laugh, they all took off. Keith, his kids, and the half dozen or so remaining friends and family. They ran as fast as they could across the field that bordered the family’s backyard. Keith spotted Lance at the kitchen door, waving frantically for them to come in. He could hear Saul’s giggles next to him, as they sprinted through the guayaba trees and beyond that he could hear the count down inside.

“[Seven, six, five-]”

“Hurry, hurry!” said Lance, thrusting a cup of grapes into Saul’s hands.

Keith skidded through the entrance and came to a stop at the dining table where he and Saul squeezed in between Lance’s sisters. Keith grabbed a cup of grapes.

“[-one! Happy New Year!!]” The family cheered at the stroke of midnight. Then the room fell to silence as they all tucked into their grapes. Panting, Keith popped the first grape into his mouth and made a wish as he frantically chewed.

_ I wish for my kids to always find happiness and health. _

He choked the first grape down and shoved the next one in.

_ I wish Lance gets everything that makes him happy. He deserves every good thing. _

He stuffed the next grape in his mouth and the next and the next on each wish.

_ I wish for Shiro to hear about college by tomorrow. _

_ I wish to better deal with Rosa. _

_ I wish all the best for Shiro and Lotor and the rest of the Voltron gang. _

_ I wish that we can remain in Cuba. _

_ I wish that Clara finds that flyer module she’s been searching the galaxy for. _

_ I wish for a Galra krill-hunting knife for my anniversary this year. _

_ I wish Marcelo, Anna, and their families well. _

_ I wish Lance nails me hard for the New Year. _

He squeezed his eyes tight and saved his last two grapes for the same two wishes he had asked for since he brought Saul back from an off-world trip to the Wellspring. He really shouldn’t. Technically, if Saul was fully human, than there would be nothing wrong at all. Still. He was  _ Keith’s _ son. He should benefit from his genes the way his brother and sister would.

_ Saul.  _ He wished, not expressing the rest in his head.

_ Saul.  _ Keith took a deep breath.

All twelve grapes—done! Next! Keith grabbed a cup of cider and chugged.

“[It’s twelve o’ one! Time’s up!]” Shouted Lance’s sister, just as Keith finished his last gulp. He made it! He surfaced and looked around at everyone else at the table. All the bowls of grapes and cups of cider had been polished off. Looked like everyone’s wishes would be coming true, Keith thought wryly. Except for his son’s; Camilo was clapping Shiro’s back in an attempt to save him from the grapes he was choking on.

“I hope Shiro doesn’t die,” Saul hummed, as he adjusted his shredded t-shirt and sequin arm warmers, “Camilo saved him from the bonfire earlier!” He threw his arms out at Keith, “Happy New Year, mami,” he chirped then smacked a kiss on Keith’s cheek and dreamily wandered away towards Lance’s guitar (Keith’s bondmate picked it up again to spend time with his youngest, who played all kinds of instruments).

“Happy New Year!!” Emily shouted over a throng of cheers, as Lance rolled up his pretend sleeves and marched out of the kitchen. Keith could barely see him over the heads of all these people in the house. They landed kisses or gave him pats on the back as they went by. What a surprise that they weren’t making Keith uncomfortable as they once would have. He followed the moving crowd, then took a few steps up towards the terrace for a better view of his bondmate. who had lifted the dirty pail of water left by the main entrance. Lance swung the door wide open and hurled the dirty water out over the grounds, thereby cleansing their home spiritually for the New Year. 

“GOOD RIDDANCE!” Lance cried with relish.

Another round of cheers went up, mixed with mocking laughter and jeers from behind Keith. 

“When’s the bonding ceremony?!” shouted Rachel, one of Lance’s sisters.

Keith turned around in time to see that Camilo had dipped Shiro and drawn him into an enthusiastic kiss. Keith whipped around to look at Lance and found him with his arms crossed but smiling, resigned to the fact that his son was growing up. That would have to be rewarded. He met Lance’s eyes from across the living room and grinned.

Keith stepped back down onto the ground level, edging by the little cousins and friends, running around the furniture—seriously, at least fifty or sixty people were in the house, most of them related to Lance, how could there be so many people in one family?! Navigating through the sea of relatives, Keith caught a familiar scent, that seemed particularly excited, by the hallway. A quick peek confirmed that it was his daughter and Rosa. getting handsy in a corner.

He pretended he didn’t see them grinding their way towards Clara’s old bedroom and smirked to himself, as he had seen Saul wander into Clara’s bedroom earlier in the day with a whoopee cushion. Speaking of his youngest, he was now sitting by a windowsill. Keith stopped to watch him, as it looked like he had opted for his pink electric guitar. Saul began to strum a rock version of an old cumbia, that was played year after year for New Year’s. 

He belted, “Yo no olvido el año viejo!”

_ I won’t forget the old year! _

His son was very good. Keith beamed with pride, as family gravitated towards his youngest. All of his kids seemed to be doing alright. Saul’s older teen cousins picked up the spare electric guitars to accompany him; Saul was twelve, but tended to hang with an older crowd, which Keith supposed was appropriate. An old pang struck his heart. He felt the undercurrents of despair muddling his good spirits.

“You’re thinking about it again,” Lance whispered.

Keith sank back into his alpha’s arms, grateful for his arrival and distraction.

“A hundred years is a full human lifetime, Kitten,” Lance pressed kisses on his shoulder. “He won’t have to outlive his friends or his family. He’ll never be lonely. Happy New Year, babe.”

“I know…” Keith breathed. He had his youngest for the time being, and his alpha and Clara and Shiro, too. He told his kids many times when they were children, that there was no use worrying about the inevitable. Everything was temporary in life, so enjoy the good moments. It was time for him to take his own advice. He knew it wasn’t easy for any of them. 

Keith put the old heartache away, as he smirked up at Lance.

“We should get pointers on kissing from Shiro and Camilo.”

Lance’s eyes narrowed. “I already know how to suck your tongue out and drool all over your face, if that’s what you want.”

Keith turned within the circle of his bondmate’s arms, sliding his own arms around his waist. “You’re an accomplished drooler. Camilo’s good to Shiro.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, he’s so great. I know.”

Keith could barely hear his grumpiness over the loud electric guitars. He slipped out of Lance’s arms and pulled him towards the terrace stairs, taking the steps three at a time. He slid through the entrance and locked the door behind Lance to avoid any surprise visits. Over the years, the terrace that was meant for him became a place of relaxation for all of them. On one side, a full outdoor kitchen and bar hugged the iron railing walls. On the other side were all kinds of cozy furniture. The room had ambient lighting that gave a warm glow to the lounge chairs and hammocks, artfully placed over decorative tiles.

“Hey, I have an idea.” Said Lance as he made his way to his favorite lounger. He sat back on it with a flourish, sighing in satisfaction.

“What’s that?” Keith followed his alpha and dropped lazily into an armchair.

“Let’s have another kid!” He threw an arm back behind his head.

Keith snorted. Three was enough for him. “No, thanks. Get a dog.”

“Aw, Kitten. All of our kids are adulting,” Lance frowned, tone turning pensive as he wondered, “What am I going to do now?”

“Saul’s twelve.”

“Yeah, but that’ll be gone quick.”

Keith looked over at Lance, smiling. It must’ve been hard for him—Clara planning to bond, Shiro leaving for college and Saul halfway grown. It was in Lance’s bones to rear children.

“All twelve of your wishes were me getting pregnant, wasn’t it?”

“One of them was you begging me to stop taking birth control,” Lance corrected, “Another was for you to secretly sabotage my birth control. Three wishes were for easy and healthy pregnancies, another was for Clara to find that thing she’s looking for, and another wish was for Saul to find the perfect lace socks and t-shirt for his carnelian-red chinos.” Lance threw an arm around Keith when he joined him on the lounge chair, as he continued, “Also wished that Shiro wouldn’t accidentally kill himself this year. And I saved a wish for Rosa to not break Clara’s heart. Then the rest was for my moisturizer to come back in stock.”

“I bought three last week, they’re in the kitchen pantry behind the extra cooking oil.”

“Oh my god!” Lance rained kisses on Keith’s head. “Why did you put them there?”

Keith shrugged. “The bathroom was too far away.”

“How are you an elite martial artist,” asked Lance, dryly, “an elite pilot, a doting mother of three and also the laziest dirt bandit in Cuba?”

“Practice,” Keith said as he toed off his boots. He snuggled into Lance’s scent, mind still on his alpha’s pregnancy wishes and his stray question—what would they do now? Keith loved his kids, and child-rearing meant the world to him. Like he told Rosa, his kids made him a better person. His kids were  _ everything _ . Yet… feelings of unrest stirred inside him.

“Lance, there’s other things I want to do besides raising our kids. When Saul’s out of the house, I want to go find out what really happened to my mother. I want to spend some time with the alliance and see for myself how the galaxy is doing… I want to help other worlds that are still in need of it. I want to fly new Galra-Altean patrol ships,” He swallowed, a little surprised at himself, at how strongly he felt the things he had left out in life for his children. 

The new year was returning old wishes; he was worried that they would be forced to uproot their lives out of Cuba because of humanity, and here he was doing his own uprooting. “I know how you feel about kids and Cuba-”

“Home is by your side, Kitten,” Lance replied, simply. “I go with the flow.”

Keith stiffened. He looked up in surprise at his alpha’s crooked smile and watchful gaze. The same look that had given his life so much color and sustenance. Keith cleared his throat, “All these years dealing with my bullshit, and you want more? Don’t you get sick of it?”

“Yeah, all the time! I want to knock Clara out, throw Shiro in a fire and give Saul a better haircut, too.”

“It’s trendy.” Keith quoted Shiro’s assessment of it.

“It’s a mop of feathered split ends!!!” Lance burst, offended beyond words, as Keith laughed and squeezed him tight. God, did he love him. The new year always brought the passage of time to the forefront. Keith hugged Lance a little tighter; he was afraid of the day that he would lose the love of his life. He swiped at a stray tear, as he chuckled. In the meantime, he would keep living every single moment. He would worry for Clara and encourage Shiro, whenever he’s unsure of himself. He would be there to share laughter and advice with his youngest, Saul. He’d keep challenging those that come into his life and oppose his way of living; who knows, maybe all parties would learn something and become richer for it.

This new year Keith’s family was together. Music buzzed under his feet, and fireworks and drones lit up the skies across the world, even as some suffered pain, while others danced in utter bliss.

Life went on like it did in the old year. Beautiful and terrible and precious.

Keith smiled up at Lance and smacked a loud playful kiss on his lips.

“Happy New Year!” he cried.

**Author's Note:**

> Unfortunately, real-life forced a hiatus in writing for me but I hope to write a bunch more in 2020. Thank you so much for reading - I hope you enjoyed this fic! As always I would love to hear from you and by the way, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! May this year be the best one yet! :) :)


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